Cult label Redemption Films has revealed that it is planning to bring to Blu-ray fourteen films directed by Jess Franco. Amongst the films that will get the HD treatment are A Virgin Among the Living Dead a.k.a Christine, Princess of Eroticism (1973), The Demons (1973), The Awful Dr. Orloff (1962), The Erotic Rites of Frankenstein (1972), Nightmares Come at Night (1970), and the never before released Les Chatouilleuses a.k.a Crazy Nuns (1975).

Exact technical specs and supplemental features to be included with these upcoming releases are yet to be revealed.

Some really good choices, too -- I'm especially excited about EROTIC RITES OF FRANKENSTEIN, which I didn't know they had a deal for. (The rest are Eurocine licenses.) Its prior US DVD was a clothed version; let's hope Redemption finally gives it the release it deserves!

When writer/director Jess Franco died in April 2013, cinema lost its legendary master of Euro-Cult. Now in memory of his extraordinary 50+ year career, Severin is proud to present one of his most notorious slabs of über-sleaze: Alice Arno (of JUSTINE DE SADE fame) stars as a secretary sent to the seaside estate of a depraved millionaire, his nymphomaniac daughter (Franco’s beloved muse Lina Romay), her invalid cousin and their grunting houseboy. But when her day’s work ends, a nightmare of depraved new duties will begin! Paul Muller (BARBED WIRE DOLLS) costars in this Uncle Jess jaw-dropper packed with incest, lesbianism, sadism and murder, restored from a 35mm print discovered in a Barcelona bordello, loaded with Bonus Features and presented in high definition for the first time ever!

More about the bonus disc from their blog:
1975 was a prolific year for Jess Franco in arguably his greatest filmmaking era. But giving one of his more outstanding works from that time its global disc debut has not been an easy road. Those familiar with the complicated history of THE HOT NIGHTS OF LINDA aka BUT WHO RAPED LINDA? aka EROTIC DREAMS aka HAPPINESS IN SIN aka COME CLOSE, BLOND EMMANUELLE know that there are two very different ‘official’ versions of the film (let’s not get into the various censored versions of those versions that have surfaced over the years). There’s the 80 minute BUT WHO RAPED LINDA? soft-core release version, which was Franco’s preferred cut and the longest version out there, and the controversial French release LES NUITS BRŪLANTES DE LINDA which runs slightly shorter at just over 78 minutes. The latter version contains a number of alternate sex scenes, including the infamous full brutal banana sequence. These harder sex scenes and alternate nude scenes are not inserts shot by another director at a later date, these sequences were shot by Franco.

We have newly transferred the full BUT WHO RAPED LINDA? version from a rare archive 35mm release print, which thankfully was in good enough condition to scan in hi-def for Blu-ray presentation. Whereas only a collector’s analog tape was available to us for the NUITS BRŪLANTES French version. We commissioned an English translation of the dialog on this version so that it can be presented with English subtitles for the first time. Frankly the picture and sound quality are not great so we are making a strictly limited edition of 2500 which will contain not only the regular Blu-ray/DVD combo of BUT WHO RAPED LINDA? but also an extra bonus DVD containing LES NUITS BRŪLANTES DE LINDA.

Also worth noting that Erwin Dietrich has started releasing his Franco holdings on German / Austrian blu ray -- the first being JACK THE RIPPER (1976). I grabbed mine from DiabolikDVD last week; hardly had a chance to watch much, but so far it looks pretty darn good!

Also worth noting that there are three more releases in the "Jess Franco Golden Goya Collection" from Germany's Ascot Elite: ILSA THE MAD BUTCHER, WOMEN IN CELL BLOCK 9, and DORIANA GRAY. I picked them up from DiabolikDVD over the weekend; ILSA THE MAD BUTCHER may be the best looking Franco blu yet! Some of the scenes seriously look brand new.

Severin Films earlier this month, via their Facebook, have confirmed and are currently working on prepping Jess Franco's Vampyros Lesbos for Blu-ray, which according to them will likely arrive sometime in the first half of 2015. I believe they are also prepping Franco's She Killed in Ecstasy for Blu-ray as well from another photo posted on their Facebook back in September. Personally can't wait to revisit both of these in HD!

__________________"Things only seem to be magic. There is no real magic. There's no real magic ever." - Martin

Severin Films earlier this month, via their Facebook, have confirmed and are currently working on prepping Jess Franco's Vampyros Lesbos for Blu-ray, which according to them will likely arrive sometime in the first half of 2015. I believe they are also prepping Franco's She Killed in Ecstasy for Blu-ray as well from another photo posted on their Facebook back in September. Personally can't wait to revisit both of these in HD!

She Killed in Ecstasy is Fantastic. Probably the most sure-handedly "Franco" Franco film.